The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of apparatus for storing and preparing meals which are to be dispensed, which apparatus is of the type comprising a closable cabinet or cart equipped with at least one tray which can be inserted into and removed from such cabinet, this tray being intended to receive the food constituting the meal, as well as embodying at least one heating element or heating means, which can be turned-on and turned-off for heating the food.
Such type of equipment, usually constructed to be transportable, is especially employed in larger food-supply places or centers having a local centralized and/or timewise-concentrated preparation of the meals, to permit distribution of such meals to remote locations and/or at various staggered periods of time. This is the case typically, for instance, in hospitals, larger size canteens and in food-supply centers, where such establishments occupy a number of different stories, yet are serviced by a single kitchen. Also the use of such equipment is possible in conjunction with prepared or cooked meals in different entertainment or social establishments.
The greater the distance between the place of preparation and the place of distribution and/or the greater the time which elapses between preparation and distribution of the meals, the more important it becomes to maintain the hot food hot or to again reheat the same. However, as a general rule, a meal not only consists of hot food, for instance, soup, vegetables, meat dishes and so forth, but also of cold food, such as typically salad, desserts, beverages and the like. An apparatus of the previously mentioned type therefore should be universally adaptable to various meals composed of different courses and/or the external occurrences.
According to a state-to-the-art apparatus of the previously mentioned type the interior of the (travelling or mobile) cabinet is designed as a cold storage compartment i.e., a compartment for holding the food fresh, in the case of those food dishes which do not require any heating-up, whereas at an outer side of the cabinet there is provided a type of support framework for containers with the food dishes or courses of the meal which are to be heated-up. This outer side or end face of the cabinet can be coupled with a separate, likewise mobile unit which as a general rule is stationed at the distribution locality or station, and such unit, in turn, is equipped with heating elements dispositioned in such an arrangement that each heating element comes to lie beneath a number of the containers for the food to be heated-up and thus heats-up such food, when the unit is operatively connected or coupled with the cabinet.
This prior art equipment is associated with a number of different drawbacks. Firstly, the cabinet must be loaded with both cold food and food which is to be heated-up, so that putting together the complete meal first can be accomplished at the distribution station, that is to say, at the end of the transport path. Hence, valuable time is lost at the distribution station, since it would be more sensible and rational to put together the complete meal in the kitchen or in a neighboring food preparing room.
Secondly, the heretofore discussed prior art equipment can only be sensibly employed if there is present at the distribution station the unit equipped with the heating elements. If the distribution station is placed at a new location, then, it is not only necessary to bring the cabinet to a new place, but firstly this also must be done with the unit equipped with the heating elements.
Thirdly, with the state-of-the-art equipment mentioned above, all of the heating elements of the unit, when coupled with the cabinet, must be collectively turned-on. In other words: the unit is not capable of distinguishing whether the support framework is only partially loaded with containers or the like containing the food which is to be heated-up. Additionally, not only are the containers for the food which is to be heated-up heated, but also the support framework, so that after the heating-up time has expired hot containers must be removed from the hot support framework, something which at the very least is more bothersome than simply removing a cool, touchable tray or shelf from the cabinet.